Juan Soto 'Mona Lisa' free agency; Boras on Burnes, Snell

SAN ANTONIO – It was almost a quarter-century ago, just a five-hour drive away, when Alex Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras shocked the baseball world by signing the richest contract in the sport’s history with the Texas Rangers.

Now here we are deep in the heart of Texas at Major League Baseball’s GM meetings in San Antonio, where Boras and Juan Soto are once again trying to make a historic deal, hopefully this time with a price tag of around $700 million – which that of Rodriguez. 10-year contract worth $252 million during the 2000 Winter Meetings in Dallas.

The comparisons are eerily similar: Soto just turned 26 years old two weeks ago and was considered the best pure hitter in the game, while Rodriguez was 25 when he signed with the Rangers.

Soto has a career batting average of .285 with 201 home runs, 592 RBI and a .989 OPS. Rodriguez had a career batting average of .309 with 189 home runs, 598 RBI and a .934 OPS when he hit free agency.

Rodriguez was considered perhaps the best young free agent to ever hit the market. Boras believes Soto is one of the greatest players in the history of the game at that age, comparing his career to Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ken Griffey Jr. and Rodríguez.

The crucial difference, Boras says, is Soto’s track record of excelling on the biggest stage.

Rodriguez had only played with the Seattle Mariners, and regularly in just two postseasons, and had never advanced to the World Series.

Soto, who has played with three different teams, has been to two World Series: winning in 2019 with the Washington Nationals and losing last year with the New York Yankees. He also helped lead the San Diego Padres to the 2022 NLCS. He has 11 home runs, 30 RBI and a .927 OPS in his postseason career, compared to Rodriguez’s three home runs and eight RBI in the postseason before hitting free agency.

“The one thing I’m really happy about is that Juan played in the World Series,” Boras said. “He has famous championship moments. I mean, other than the Dodgers and Astros players, Juan has the most bats in the league.” postseason So he is seen and understood much more than A-Rod when he was a young player. Naturally, he played in New York City and on the New York platform, his character, worked with the largest media markets, everything about Juan Soto is quite known.

“So for a free agent at this age, being around great players, in big markets, in championship situations, all those things. It’s like every box is checked, whereas with A-Rod he didn’t quite have the resume of championship games, big city games and all those things that Juan has.”

Soto let Boras know he wants to go toe-to-toe with the ownership group of any team that covets him, even Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, whose toughest competition could come from the other side of town with the New York Mets and owner Steve Cohen.

“They want to win,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “They are in a large market with us, have tasted success this year and want to move the needle even further. The best way to do that is to import quality players from what you already have… Being the last team standing is what it’s all about, trying to find great players and add them to your mix.”

Cohen may have the deepest pockets, worth about $20 billion — making him the richest owner in baseball, according to Forbes — but Cashman doesn’t believe it’s just a two-team race.

“Major market owners with deep pockets aren’t the only ones signing players to big deals,” Cashman said. “You’ve seen the San Diego Padres sit on the West Coast, they’ve imported a lot of big players and big contracts and outplayed teams of interest, so it comes in different forms, in different cities at different times.

“The market is so strong this time of year from all different aspects of the baseball universe, so we have to do our best to compete with anyone year in and year out.”

While Soto has certainly enjoyed his time in New York, Boras said the biggest selling point will be a team’s plans to compete on an annual basis and their strategy to build around him.

“Juan likes to win,” Boras said. “Juan Soto wants ownership that he knows will support an opportunity to win annually. It is remarkable to think of a player from very humble beginnings from the Dominican Republic who despite all his money offers he has received record offers, keeping his focus always said: ‘I want to know who my owner is, I want to know that we can win… If I’m going to dedicate my career to it, I want the owner to put his resources into it.’

“And that’s really why Juan Soto became a free agent.”

While Soto certainly won’t offer the same financial benefits as Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani, whose 10-year, deferred $700 million contract will pay for itself with Japanese corporate sponsorships and ticket sales, Boras insists Soto’s presence will dramatically increase revenue. franchise value.

“I think when you have something that no one else has in the player community and in the talent arena,” Boras said, “you have the gem. You have the museum’s Mona Lisa. You have the attraction.

“You also have someone who allows owners to win repeatedly, and when owners win repeatedly, their revenues skyrocket. They’re developing the impact of postseason play, attendance, rights in the streaming world, international branding with one of the greats, and he literally has 15 more years of his prime to offer.

Boras, who spoke for 48 minutes, also discussed a variety of topics involving several other of his major free agents:

Will Astros sign Alex Bregman?

Bregman has spent his entire career with the Houston Astros and has received interest from several teams asking if he would be willing to move to second base, which he would like to do, Boras said. Bregman recently had surgery to remove chips in his right elbow, Boras said, but he will be fine in a few weeks.

Although general manager Dana Brown is cautiously optimistic about bringing back Bregman — giving him the richest contract in franchise history — Boras said the Astros have little choice but to re-sign him.

“They obviously understand how rare it is to play in four World Series and be in the postseason eight years in a row,” Boras said, “and that he’s a centerpiece of that. They certainly measured to me throughout the entire process that they were actively involved. In terms of meeting the markets and demands of these types of players, there just aren’t many players in the market doing what he’s doing. Also Bregman being able to play second and third base, his leadership, it’s a market that the Astors are certainly aware is very healthy for him.”

Blake Snell and Corbin Burnes are hot commodities

Although Corbin Burnes is the top free agent pitcher on the market, Boras says interest in Blake Snell, who pitched for the San Francisco Giants last season, has increased after his brilliant second half. Snell, who struggled in the first half after signing in late March, went 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA after the All-Star break, allowing just 31 hits while striking out 103 in 68.1 innings .

“There’s no doubt that the ‘Snelling salts’ caused quite a stir,” Boras joked. “And the market has certainly woken up.”

Burnes’ value has also risen, Boras said, after he went 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA pitching for the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East last season after spending his first six years with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“He remains a ‘Corbin copy’ of his previous seasons,” Boras said. “He is the basis for a number 1.”

Boras said: “Last year I think it was more focused on the ancillary market. This year it is very clear that; very focused on the starting market. I think the starters will go pretty quickly.”

Should LDS be seven games?

Boras believes that the MLB Division Series should be a best-of-seven, like the LCS and World Series – instead of a best-of-five.

“The way this playoff structure is set up for the first five games,” Boras said, “we need to stop burning our beautiful young arms by throwing them in a way we never would during a season.

“We have a playoff system that is really detrimental to what teams do with their players in their development and how they manage them throughout the season, pitching them four, five, six days in a row. This is their future. They bring they come up with no serves, and they throw 98 (-mph), but they are used in the bullpen… We need to get back to seven (games) so that starters become the uniformity that we don’t use up our young bullpen arms.

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